Mirror
by mayaoneechan13
Summary: Even though Append was beautiful, cute, sweet, and sounded more realistic than Miku ever had, Miku disliked her. She was her replacement, no more, no less.  But even Hatsune Miku can make mistakes. It just so happens that this one results in Kaito abuse.


I got the idea from a MikuMikuDance image on DeviantArt and Miku Append's version of _Love & Joy._ I do not own Vocaloid. Enjoy~

* * *

**_Mirror_**

"What's all the commotion?"

Rin Kagamine jumped, her white ribbon ruffled, and then she smiled weakly to the aqua-haired teen standing behind her. Miku Hatsune was not a Vocaloid to be trifled with.

"A-ah…Miku…you see…" Rin began, as if hiding something.

"See what?" Miku cut her off. Sweet as the pigtailed girl often was, lately she had been awfully touchy. Perhaps it was because there was a rumor of a new Vocaloid. It had stolen her position in the limelight, despite the fact it hadn't even arrived yet. Miku was usually in the center of attention. Of course she would have a problem…

"…The new Vocaloid is coming today!" Rin quickly finished, and Miku frowned. Just what she wanted; the rumor had been true. As if she wasn't already upset about her loss of attention.

"Come on, Miku! Don't you want to see it?"

Miku's frown turned into a grimace. At first Rin thought she was going to be pummeled, but to her surprise, her older "sister" softened. Perhaps she, too, could not handle the curiosity? "…Fine."

"I knew you'd want to! It's this way!" the blonde girl smiled, grabbing Miku's wrist and dragging her away.

"Hey…wait a minute, Rin! Where are we…" Miku began as her teal hair flopped over her eyes, making it hard to see. Before she could finish, however, Rin skidded to a stop in front of a door and threw it open. The sudden stop had caused Miku's pigtails to fly forward, messing with her hairstyle.

"Jeez, Rin…did you have to…do that?" She panted, following Rin's lead. "You still haven't told me where we—"

"Need I say more?" Rin said, sweeping her arm to point out the room. Miku's jaw dropped. It was a laboratory, the one where most of them had come from. She had never seen so many Vocaloids together in her life. Some, she realized, were Vocaloids she hadn't even met.

There was Len, of course—he was always with his twin sister, and went wherever she went. That ponytailed girl, Akita Neru, who was Rin's half sister and seemed to hold a grudge against Miku, was there as well. And then Kaito and Meiko—the first two Vocaloids ever made, before Miku, even. Gackpoid was there as well, a surprise to many. Even his green-haired sister Gumi Megpoid had come along. Megurine Luka and Sonika were busy chatting away in English with the Engloids, Sweet Ann, Big Al, Prima, Tonio, and Leon. SF-A2 Miki was marveling at Yuki Kaai's singing skills, and Hiyama Kiyoteru was giving her an approving look. Even Haku, the shy, pessimistic Voyakiloid with white hair, had come to see the new Vocaloid.

Every one of them was mainly focused on the large glass tube in the middle of the room. Yet, there was nothing inside it…Miku felt uneasy. Was she the only one who couldn't see it? She stepped down the metal stairs to get a better look.

She gasped.

Hatsune Miku was not looking at a new Vocaloid—she was looking at herself.

The "new" Vocaloid's teal pigtails fluttered as she floated within the cylinder, wispy strands escaping the main hair mass every once and a while, brushing the pale-skinned android's face.

_No…no…I must be seeing things…this isn't me…this isn't…is it—?_

She shuddered. Hatsune Miku was being replaced. By this…this _thing_. Why? Why had MASTER decided to replace her?

"Because," returned a voice, "you are defective."

Miku's eyes shot open. Had she been dreaming? No, the room was still there… something was strange, however.

And then it hit her.

Meiko had frozen mid-slap with her hand on Kaito's cheek. Rin was floating in midair, her shirt kept uplifted by some unknown force. Luka looked as if she was laughing, her pink hair messed slightly, but perfectly still—not a single soul in the room was moving.

It was as if time had stopped.

Angrily, Miku whipped around to where she had perceived the voice to come from—her clone. "What have you done?" she shouted at the limp doll, but it, of course, had no effect. The teenage ex-diva huffed and thought about how she hated it. Everything…it was all because….

"This girl is your improvement, Miku. I am afraid you do not understand…I am helping you." The voice came again.

"How," Miku asked through gritted teeth, "can you consider freezing everyone 'helping' me?"

"Miku…the reason they are frozen is because you are the only one who can see her."

She froze. _I am the only one…but why…?_ MASTER was being particularly difficult.

"Miku, you must understand…_Append_ cannot exist without you. She _needs_ you, Miku Hatsune."

The teen Vocaloid laughed darkly. "Why does this… 'Append' need me? She practically _is_ me. I don't know why you need the _old_ version." Miku finished, the last words like acid on her tongue.

"And that," said the voice, "is _precisely _why Append needs you. I am so glad you are beginning to understand. You see, in order for her to awaken, you must—"

"WAIT!" Miku interrupted, and the voice was silenced. "I still don't know why—"

"You will find out, Miku Hatsune…all you need to do is connect to this USB port…and then you will see…"

A small plug and cord suddenly illuminated. Miku hesitated. What would happen if she did? But then again, MASTER wanted her to…

Before she could change her mind, Miku inserted one end of the plug into the machine. The other end, she slid into a jack on her headset. The effect was immediate, something snapped within her, and she fell, spiraling downward…

* * *

_Where…?_

Miku became aware that surely, it wasn't system failure—although she originally had feared that MASTER had decided to destroy her, it seemed her programming was intact. In fact, she felt freer than she had ever felt before, in the artificial body she was placed in.

A strange aura glowed behind Miku; she turned to look. And there in front of her, was Append, yet again. This time, however, Miku was able to get a closer look. It was herself, in different clothes—she had traded the sleeveless shirt and tie for a white bodysuit, which had a strip of fabric cut out down the middle, a line of sheer black fabric covering it. Her skirt was replaced by two flaps of the same black fabric, and her headphones were gone. There were some futuristic-looking structures on her hips and ponytails, which Miku couldn't understand their function.

As she looked around some more, she realized the room looked familiar—she was standing on the gear-shaped platform she had performed on several times before. However, unlike those times, it was dead silent, except for some eerie echoing noises, and some heartbeat-like beeps. The background was like outer space. And despite the fact Append was here, it did nothing; it simply floated there, stiff like a statue, pigtails suspended high in the air, not moving even in the slightest.

Hatsune Miku had never felt more alone in her life.

As she contemplated seeing if she could wake up Append, she wondered how she would get out of the room. She had tried the button on her headset—but then realized that this was not reality, she was not in her body—so of course she couldn't use the function that transported her, because there was nothing physical to transport.

Perhaps she could contact someone? Miku tried another switch and attempted to call Luka. If she could get in contact with someone, _anyone_, then maybe she could get out of here. But her hopes were not answered; all she received was static, and then her headset powered down. It couldn't get any worse now…

Was this MASTER's idea of some sick joke? She carefully walked back towards Append. As Miku neared her, Append's pigtails suddenly came down, whipping Miku as they fell, and swayed for a moment after they had found their correct positions behind Append's head. Miku yelped in surprise, then there was another moment of silence.

Append began to float downward, out of her cross-legged position, until her feet touched the floor. She stood in a very typical position, hands at her sides, feet about shoulder length apart, still sleeping. Then, her eyes slowly opened. As with the rest of her, they were exactly like Miku's; clear and aqua green, peering out at her clone. Yet, there was something different about her—perhaps it was the innocence Append had, having only just awoken.

"Hello."

Hatsune Miku jumped, surprised at Append's suddenness. "H-hello!" She stuttered, noticing the robotic tinge in her voice for the first time.

"My name is Miku Append." Append smiled sweetly.

"Mine is Miku. _Hatsune_ Miku." Miku smiled, too, but she knew that unlike Append's, it was forced. MASTER had been right. Append _was_ an improvement. Hearing the metallic inflection in her own voice was torture to her ears. Append, on the other hand, sounded near-human.

"Miku Hatsune?" Append asked, eyes widening. "Oh yes, MASTER told me all about you. I think we'll be great friends."

"Ah—" A sound escaped Miku's mouth, but she realized it was no good. MASTER had planned all of this. "Yes…of course…we'll be great friends…" She breathed. But who was she kidding? Even though Append was beautiful, cute, sweet, and sounded more realistic than Miku ever had, Miku disliked her. She was her replacement, no more, no less.

"Well…?"

Miku suddenly realized that Append was holding out her hand. She wondered for a split second whether or not she should take it. Would she be giving in, giving up on her name?

Acting on instinct, she slapped the hand away.

Append looked shocked. "Why?"

Miku looked down, angered at both herself and Append. But mostly Append.

"You and I…listen, we'll never be the same." She hissed.

"Huh? But Miku, I—" Append began, looking hurt.

"_NO._ I am not going to be replaced. You can go live in your own little happy world, but _I am not going to be replaced by you!_"

Append didn't know what say to that. That wasn't why she created, but Miku didn't understand.

"Miku…" She began.

"…Get away from me, you imposter."

"But Miku…I am you."

"You'll never be."

"You're not getting it. I—"

"Append, _there is no way_—"

"MIKU!" Append shouted, trying to get her attention. "Just stop and listen for one second."

"…Why should I?"

Append looked down in frustration. And then, she walked over to Miku and slapped her. Probably because she was built the exactly same way, so her thought process would be the same…or had she matured slightly? She her hands on Miku's shoulders and looked her in the eye. Miku fidgeted, still angry at Append.

"If you'll listen, I'll explain."

Miku looked away. "…Fine."

"_I only exist because you do._"

It took a moment for Miku to take this in. "Ok…that makes no sense."

"Yes, it does. Because, in case you don't know, this is all taking place in your head. Meanwhile, your body is being upgraded in order to contain the six new voices you've been given: Soft, sweet, dark, Vivid, Solid, and Light."

"…That still doesn't make any sense."

Append sighed, stepping back from the Vocaloid. "It does, I tell you…because I am not who you think I am. I'm just someone talking to you through a sort of mask, so we _can_ talk to each other. I knew you'd react this way, so I decided it would be best to try and convince you that this is ok. Stupid compatibility issues."

"A mask…?"

"Yes. You see…this body…the one you see here talking to you…actually, it's a visualization of the program on the Append Disk. If I let it go and stop animating it for a second…" Append suddenly froze, and became semitransparent, fizzing in and out like static. Hatsune Miku gasped. "Are you alright—?"

Append came back into focus and stuck out her tongue. "See what I mean? If you aren't here, the same thing would happen. Miku Append is not a new Vocaloid. _That's_ why she needs you, Miku."

At this, Miku did begin to understand. Append's sudden beginning to talk in 3rd-person only meant one thing.

"Are you…MASTER?"

Append smiled. "Come over here, Hatsune Miku. I think it's time we gave this a try." She held out a hand again.

Miku hesitated. "…Ok. I'll try." She took Append's hand.

"Oh Miku, I knew you would! Well, here goes." Append cried excitedly.

Miku noticed a slight buzzing sound in her ears. And there was an odd sensation of floating. Confused, she looked down. She wasn't floating—but the world was warping, and she felt dizzy. _Wait a minute, are we getting closer? _She didn't understand how their arms went through each other, but they did. They were so close now, she thought she just might run into Append, so she closed her eyes.

It was all over.

* * *

Miku opened her eyes and looked around. Append was gone, and the black sky was, as well; it had been replaced by mountain scenery. Wondering what had happened, she paced on the platform—had it all been a dream? No, something felt strange. A cool breeze blew by her, and immediately Miku knew what had changed.

Her clothes.

Miku was used to wearing skimpy clothes, but these were even more so. Ok, they were cute—but they would take some getting used to. Somehow, she and Append had merged. Maybe Append really had been just a program, an expansion pack of sorts. In any case, the installation had been successful.

"I see that it worked, Miku." Came the disembodied voice. Miku knew it very well; it was MASTER speaking to her.

"Yeah. It would have been nice of you to tell me, MASTER." She replied, frustrated. She appreciated the upgrade, but MASTER's way of working things was infuriating.

"Oh, Kaito didn't tell you?"

Miku clenched her fists in their black gloves. "Kaito was supposed to tell me…was he?"

"Yes. I told him to while I was working with him on a song the other day."

"Ooh…Just wait until I get my hands on that guy!" She grumbled, cracking her knuckles. It was all Kaito's fault...all this trouble would have never happened, had he told her!

"Now Miku," MASTER started. Miku could almost see sweat droplets forming in the sky. "There's no need to get angry and use your DARK voice." But he was too late; she was already a flaming inferno, plotting her revenge on her blue-haired friend. "Oh… alright…never mind…" MASTER faltered, fading away. "The return button's on your pigtails…"

Frantically, the teen girl searched the devices attached to her hair for the switch that would let her return to the laboratory. At last she found one that felt promising, and pressed it. As soon as she had done so, Miku flew through various lines of code, destinations flashing by, until she landed with a _thunk_ inside the laboratory. Cursing under her breath, she sat up and rubbed her head, which was sore from hitting hard metal. Squinting, the android realized that 14 pairs of eyes were staring at her, filled with shock and worry. Miku's face flushed. She stood up quickly and ran to hop out, but ran into thick glass, embarrassing herself. After rubbing her nose, Miku pressed her hands against the glass.

"OPEN UP!" She shouted through the glass, her voice changing to SOLID.

"Oh—right." Len said quickly, and flicked a switch on a control board. The glass lifted and receded, and Miku jumped down.

"So," She asked, changing her voice again. "How does everyone like it?"

All the vocaloids were silent. And then, all at once, they began telling her.

"I think it looks great—"

"You sound different, Miku—"

"We thought you had a System Failure—"

"I was so worried—"

"That was _not_ what I expected—"

"It's so cool—"

"I'm not sure about the outfit—"

"It's not fair—"

"H-hey! One at a time!" Miku shouted, unable to hear through the jumble of words. Everyone exchanged glances. Then, they all began at once all over again. The teen's pigtails swished as she slapped her forehead. "Didn't I say _one_ at a time?"

All the vocaloids gave a sweatdrop. Miku sighed, then walked over to Gumi. The others took this as a cue to go back to their own conversations. It made Miku feel a lot less like she was being stared down; even though she loved being the center of attention, it felt awkward at the moment.

"Well…I, uh, think it looks cute!" Gumi said, smiling nervously. "But you know, Miku…your voice is so much more realistic now…I think even more so than mine. That's really amazing."

"Thanks!" Miku replied, choosing to take it as a double ended compliment. "Remember _Crosslight_? I wonder if we'd sound better together now."

"Yeah, I wonder." Gumi continued. "Geez, as neat as you sound now, it'll be scary when Vocaloid 3 comes out."

"Or Rin and Len Append." Gakupo added, surprising both green-haired girls.

"Gakupo! How many times do I have to tell you not to do that?" Gumi scolded him, hands on hips.

"Wait…did you say 'Rin and Len Append?'" Miku asked.

"Yes. Is there a problem?" He returned with a flick of his fan.

"You mean…YOU KNEW TOO?" Miku yelled.

"Kaito just told us. We were really worried, my brother and I…" Gumi looked down, and Miku stopped shaking Gakupo.

"Ah…so this still comes back to Kaito…" she grimaced, dropping a confused Gackpoid to the floor. "I'll come back later." She stomped off in the direction of the stairs, where Kaito and Meiko were talking. Gumi got to her knees to help her brother up.

"Wow…someone's ticked." Gakupo mumbled, and Gumi nodded, looking on.

* * *

"Kaito!" Miku called. "You knew about this?"

"Oh, Miku!" Kaito grinned. "It's great, isn't it?"

Despite the fact that she usually acted nice to Kaito due to a rivalry between her and Meiko, Miku felt her fists lock up. Oh, he was going to pay…She took a deep breath, then yanked Kaito by his shirt collar.

"YOU IDIOT! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO TELL ME!"

Kaito suddenly understood. He sweated. "Uh…yeah…about that…"

"DO YOU HAVE _ANY_ IDEA WHAT I'VE BEEN THROUGH?"

"Uh, no…"

"Kaito, _this is all your fault_!" Miku continued, beginning to calm down slightly. For some reason or other, it was always best to just get her feelings off her chest. She took a another deep breath. "Ahh…so much better now…"

"What, you're not angry?" Kaito and Meiko both looked dumbfounded. Miku looked down. For a moment, he was not sure.

"Of course not! It's nothing~" She grinned, dropping Kaito as she had Gakupo. Kaito slumped in relief, and Meiko stared at Hatsune Miku, confused. Miku suddenly had a mischievous urge. "Oh yeah…Kaito, don't forget to tell Rin and Len—you wouldn't want _the twins_ coming after you too, would you?" She then turned and left, leaving behind Meiko and Kaito, who exchanged glances.

Miku giggled as she ran back over to Gumi to join everyone else. Most everyone was happy for her (except for Akita Neru, who was jealous as ever). She couldn't help but love some of the other Vocaloids she hadn't met before, especially Yuki Kaai. Luka took the position of translator, and so she met some of the Engloids, as well. Miku gave her regards to Haku Yowane, who was getting better in her own right as a Voyakiloid and gaining a name as a Vocaloid. It made her cheerful to resume her old position among her "family", with no more rumors floating around.

However happy she was a this, though, there was only one thing on her mind that made her day…

_Revenge complete._


End file.
